Bascomb Memorial Broadcasting Foundation, Inc.

Our mission is to provide quality public-centric music, arts, and cultural programming to the residents of South Florida and beyond. In an ever changing radio landscape, WDNA remains committed to America''s Classical Music, alternative voices, and the marriage of entertainment with enrichment.

Geographic areas served:
South Florida Programs:
Major program is broadcasting 24-hours a day. Local programs include a strong music education program and extensive calendar of arts and social service events. Projects include accepting interns from Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Miami-Dade Community College gaining experience in music diversity, basic radio production, engineering, administration, public relations, and marketing. The news component is provided by the BBC World Service in English and Spanish. The Annual Jazz Film Festival presents 15-25 documentaries, short subjects, and animation from throughout the world

Community Reviews

DNA really targets our community with great latin jazz. I really enjoy the latin jazz quarter and fusion latina. DNA also sponsors great events. I regularly attend the events given by the University of Miami Concert Jazz Band.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

My husband and I LOVE this station. The hosts who are both paid staff and volunteers are very knowledgable about music. The live broadcasts are energetic and fun. The public events they do in partnership with the University of Miami, Frost School of Music are fantastic and inexpensive to attend. The new series of concerts at the station are intimate and the talent is amazing. We listen in the car, at the office and in our home. Susan

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

WDNA is the ONLY radio station I listen when I am in the car. Frank in the morning does a wonderful job in playing different music all the time and he is so knowledgeable. When I come back from work I also listen and if I drive in the evening I also tune in WDNA: Fusion Latina, etc. I enjoy going to the concerts at Frost School of Music that are sponsored by WDNA. All in all, this radio station is superb.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

Absolutely wonderful. So nice to hear dj's who are knowledgable about music. Have lived all over US, was a music major. WDNA makes it totally unnecessary to have satelite radio in car. I listen to it all day long.

When was your last experience with this nonprofit?

I've been a fan of great music since I was born. Thanks to my late father, I was exposed to everything from classical to 50's pop to jazz and klezmer to r & b, yiddishe pop, opera and Broadway. I come from a very musical family and we not only listened together but we also played together. One sister played piano and cello, the other played piano and accordian and I played piano and clarinet, my father sang and my mother watched and listened. It was wonderful.
As I grew up, I discovered New York salsa music, Cuban music and modern jazz. I used to buy a lot of records because no one radio station could satisfy my appetite for diverse cultural music. In all the years I lived in NYC there were some good jazz stations and good classical stations but never was there a radio station which offered a variety of global music.
Here in South Florida we have WDNA, 88.9 fm. It is a global radio station servicing a very multi-cultural community. Most of the DJ's are incredibly knowledgeable. They play only the very best music of a particular genre.
During the summer months, my husband and I live in Europe where we listen to WDNA online. This way, because of the time difference, we get to hear the shows that we generally miss when in the states. The music is always excellent. The talk shows are always informative and cutting edge.
Every morning as I wait for my first cup of coffee, I turn on the radio to Frank Consola's show from 6am til 11am. He is a walking jazz encyclopedia and plays the very best music any jazz fan could possibly desire.
WDNA offers quality programming 24/7 and I am deeply grateful and feel so fortunate to have them in my life on a daily basis, wherever I am in the world.

I've personally experienced the results of this organization in...

listening on a daily basis. I have also attended several concerts sponsored by WDNA and they are always quality performances.

If I had to make changes to this organization, I would...

have a very difficult time deciding what to change as I think they are currently doing a fantastic job. If it's not broken, don't fix it.

What I've enjoyed the most about my experience with this nonprofit is...

the joy of having a great local radio station 24/7. And, they are online as well, so that we can listen when we are out of town or out of the country as well. We are always guaranteed good listening.

The kinds of staff and volunteers that I met were...

I've met a few dj's and Maggie over the phone on different occasions. They are extremely friendly and seem to really appreciate their listeners.

If this organization had 10 million bucks, it could...

produce more concerts, strengthen their radio signal, broadcast live concerts and do more for the community. Perhaps they would be able to produce some musical documentaries as well. Maybe a doc about Cuban music-- yesterday and today?

Ways to make it better...

Sometimes WDNA loses their signal. It doesn't happen as often as it used to though. However, if would be nice if they were able to improve the strength of their signal even more so.

In my opinion, the biggest challenges facing this organization are...

financial ones. WDNA is a public radio station funded mostly by private citizens like myself. During these difficult economic times surely it must be effecting their ability to raise money for the station.

One thing I'd also say is that...

WDNA exudes musical integrity. I think this is rare nowadays and I applaud them for this.